County Clare, Ireland, July 1979

In 1979, I packed my bags and took a four-week journey through Ireland on my own. I traveled throughout the country by rail, bus and foot. It was a marvelous trip - I met many interesting and helpful people and saw magical things.

I shot many rolls of color slides that trip, using an old 1951 Leica camera that I treasured. Sadly, it was stolen the next year during a burglary, or I would still have it.

During the first part of my trip, I happened to spend several days at Spanish Point, just outside the County Clare town of Miltown Malby. As it so happened, the Willie Clancy Summer Festival of traditional Irish music was taking place at the time. So I would walk the rural paths from Spanish Point to Miltown Malby, enjoy the hospitality, liquid refreshment, and music in the pubs, them wander back home happily but a bit unsteadily.

I'm going through old slides and converting some to digital, and will post interesting ones from time to time. This batch was shot in July, 1979 in and around the town of Miltown Malby and Spanish Point, which is right on the western edge of Ireland. Spanish Point is so named because legend has it that survivors of the ill-fated Spanish Armada washed ashore here as the remaining ships plodded their way around the British Isles on their way back to Spain in utter defeat.